Putin likely to attend G20 summit in India as Russia frees up his schedule
- For the moment, the Kremlin is planning for the Russian president to participate in the meeting though no final decision has been made, reports said
- Moscow’s defiance is growing as efforts by the US and its allies to isolate the country over the Ukraine war are stalling in the face of reluctance among others to join
For the moment, the Kremlin is planning for him to participate in the summit though no final decision has been made, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that aren’t yet public.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
Blinken says US ‘not distracted’ by Ukraine war, Quad offers ‘choice’ from China
Since November, however, the Kremlin has found itself a bit less isolated in the group. At the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi in early March, Russia and China rejected wording on the war that had been agreed at the leaders’ summit in Indonesia less than six months before. They teamed up to block India, the host country, from negotiating a compromise.
Russia has hardened its position since the fall after the US and its allies agreed to step up weapons supplies to Ukraine early this year, according to a person familiar with Kremlin thinking.
A similar meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank heads failed to reach a consensus on the language. Russia has stopped sending senior economic officials to such gatherings, seeing their participation as pointless, according to people familiar with the decisions.
India, meanwhile, may send a government minister to represent the country at Putin’s annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum again in June this year, according to people familiar with the plans. A final decision will be up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian leader didn’t hold an annual in-person summit with Putin last year, for only the second time in the last two decades. India and Russia are, however, continuing with established diplomatic engagements despite unease in New Delhi over Russia’s war in Ukraine. India hasn’t joined the US and European sanctions and has seen trade surge with Russia since the invasion.